1.1* Scope. This standard covers the requirements for the fire protection infrastructure in wildland, rural, and suburban areas where there is an intended change of land use or intended land development.A.1.1 Land use changes in wildland, rural, and suburban areas often occur in areas where there might be an inadequate water supply, inadequate fire department resources, extended fire department response time, limited access, hazardous vegetation, unusual terrain, or unusual characteristics. Without the involvement of the fire department from the outset, the resulting changes could create a situation where the fire department cannot properly access structures or have the resources necessary to deal with emergencies at the property and where the occupants might not be able to escape the incident. This standard addresses the design of subdivisions and development in areas where threats of natural disasters or human-caused hazards in suburban/rural areas are not addressed by other planning and development documents. Moreover, in many areas of the United States, building and fire codes might not have been adopted, in which case this standard is meant to apply.

This standard provides requirements for the development of fire protection and emergency services infrastructure to make sure that wildland, rural, and suburban areas undergoing land use changes or land development have the resources and strategies in place to protect people and property from fire dangers, and allow fire fighters to do their jobs safety and effectively.